They Told Me to Build Good Karma by Selling Side Dishes - Chapter 58

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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58. Kimchi Preparation (3)

“Yes! I’ll get moving!”

I bent my waist like a pickled cabbage leaf already in brine.

‘What should I do first?’

With more hands on deck, we’d need seating. I retrieved the small plastic chairs from the corner of the Yard and distributed them to everyone.

“Alright! Everyone take your assigned positions and let’s begin! Ae-rim, you’re next to Ji-gu, and Ae-hyuk, you’re beside me.”
“Yes!”

Song Ae-rim answered with vibrant enthusiasm,

“Yes…”

Song Ae-hyuk sat down in a tone already half-resigned to his fate. Thus, the kimchi preparation site transformed into a battle formation complete with assigned seating.

“Boss! Boss~ what should I do?”
“You wanted to know how it’s done, right?”
“Yes!”
“Just watch me carefully. When Ae-rim puts the cabbage in the rubber basin, I’ll take it, split it in half, and salt it.”

Song Ae-rim’s eyes sparkled in an instant.

“Should I use this cabbage?”
“Yes!”

Song Ae-rim grabbed a cabbage and plunged it into the rubber basin. The leaves rippled across the water’s surface and bobbed upward.

“Boss! Should I put in another one?”
“Yes. Keep going.”
“Yes!”

Song Ae-rim eagerly began dropping cabbage in one after another, and I shook the cabbage up and down in the rubber basin to drain it, then sliced it in half with a swift motion before quartering it again.

“Ae-hyuk! Watch carefully what I’m doing. Open it like this and spread the seasoning evenly inside, not too salty now—this is how you salt cabbage~!”

Song Ae-hyuk nodded with a serious expression, as if attending a lecture.

“…Grandmother. Does the cabbage die if you do it like this?”
“Its breath dies.”

Song Ae-rim asked.

“If the cabbage’s breath dies, doesn’t that mean it dies?”

At those words, Grandmother Myeong-ja and I laughed heartily.

“The breath must die for the seasoning to seep in. Even people need to calm their minds before eating, or they’ll get indigestion.”

I held up the cabbage I’d been quartering and spoke.

“If the cabbage’s breath is still alive, it has no flavor. It’s crispy but bland.”

Song Ae-rim opened her eyes wide and asked again.

“So then. Does cabbage hold its breath too?”

I decided to preserve the child’s innocence here.

“Something like that, I suppose?”
“…You’re kind.”

Grandmother Myeong-ja chuckled and spoke.

“You’re the only one in the world who’d call cabbage kind! I’ve lived long enough to see someone actually caring about a cabbage’s feelings.”
“Even so! Boss, over here!”

I took the cabbage Song Ae-rim offered and picked up my knife.

Slice in half.
Then slice again.

The crisp sound of freshly split vegetables rang out, and the Twins turned to look at me.

“Wow!”
“…Oh.”

Each time the napa cabbage plunged into the water, its leaves splashed and scattered, sending cold droplets flying. I moved the brined cabbage to the side of the basin and filled it with fresh water.

“Boss, should we keep it like this? In this cold weather?”

I smiled.

“We can’t just leave it.”
“What!? Why!?”
“If we don’t flip it occasionally, only the cabbage on top will wilt properly!”
“Why is that a problem?”
“Even in kimchi-making, there must be fairness.”

Not understanding what I meant, the Twins stood there blankly. Only Grandmother Myeong-ja laughed and spoke while cutting cabbage.

“That’s right—it must be brined fairly. Our house’s kimchi shows no favoritism!”

Song Ae-rim asked while placing cabbage in with her long hands.

“So we have to wake up in the middle of the night to do it?”
“That’s right!”

Each time I grasped the leaves that had slightly wilted from the salt, they made a soft crunching sound.

“…But will we be staying up all night?”

Song Ae-hyuk’s expression darkened rapidly.

“What? Ae-hyuk? Do you have something to do?”
“…No. It’s just that staying up all night is a first for me.”

…This one’s a diligent type. Quite? Very? He seemed like a model student.

“No, you two won’t. Young ones need to sleep early and wake early to grow tall.”
“…That’s true. I do need to grow more.”

The Twins had both grown considerably. When I stood beside them, I felt almost protected by their presence.

“Song Ae-hyuk, sprinkle the salt generously.”

Grandmother Myeong-ja shook the salt container as she spoke.

“…What if I sprinkle too much and ruin everything?”
“Then apologize to the cabbage.”

Song Ae-rim chimed in from beside him.

“…If I make a mistake, I’ll apologize to the cabbage.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What lesson in life is he learning from kimchi preparation? It’s okay if the cabbage gets ruined.”
“…Really? Why?”

Song Ae-hyuk’s earnest gaze was so innocent I nearly dropped the cabbage bundle.

“If you fail, you can just make kimchi again.”
“…But that would be exhausting.”

I shrugged while holding the cabbage.

“Why would it be? Physical exhaustion is better than mental exhaustion. The body recovers with rest, but the mind—well, the mind doesn’t really rest that easily.”
“…!”
“Does that answer your question?”

Song Ae-hyuk nodded quietly.

“See! Song Ae-hyuk! Just sprinkle it! Come on, come on, come on!”
“…Yes. Yes.”

Without another word, Song Ae-hyuk grabbed a handful of salt and sprinkled it generously over the cabbage. The salt descended between the leaves in a quiet, gentle scatter—like fresh snow falling.

“…Is this right?”
“Perfect!”

Song Ae-hyuk concentrated on sprinkling salt, his ears flushed crimson.

“Ae-rim, keep adding them! Ae-hyuk, sprinkle the salt. What about us?”
“We need to split them.”

I lifted the rubber basin and drained the water. Cold water splashed up near my ankles, refreshingly cool. For just a moment, my mind cleared.

Song Ae-rim moved her arms diligently, inserting the cabbage, while Song Ae-hyuk watched with a serious expression, timing when to sprinkle the salt.

Grandmother Myeong-ja held cabbage in one hand and a knife in the other, directing the pickling work.

Watching each of them busily go about their tasks, I felt something shift within me.

‘…This is better than doing it alone.’

***

Without anyone declaring who should go first, we each moved our bodies, fully immersed in our assigned work.

And then!

“It’s… finished…!”

My hands swollen inside the rubber gloves, I realized something in that moment.

‘…If I’d done this alone, I would have died.’

Song Ae-rim collapsed onto the floor with a thud, throwing both arms up triumphantly.

“Boss! We really did 200 bunches! Since we’re out of cabbage, isn’t it just so moving!”

Song Ae-hyuk quietly held his lower back, muttering softly.

“…I think I’ll actually eat kimchi when it comes out at lunch now.”
“You didn’t eat it before?”
“…It just didn’t suit my taste, so I didn’t eat it.”

These two really do have the palates of elementary schoolers.

“You haven’t eaten any kimchi at all?”

Song Ae-hyuk shook his head, his gaze drifting downward with subtle reluctance.

“…Well. I did eat the kimchi that Grandmother Hyang-suk made during kimjang season.”
“Right. When you tear kimjang kimchi by hand and eat it with boiled beef and ramen—how delicious is that?”

Song Ae-rim beside him started to chime in, but her expression suddenly deflated.

“I… I have no strength left!”
“No strength!?”

Ae-rim shook her head vigorously up and down.

“I don’t! After all that labor, I have no strength left! I need a snack!”

So a snack was that important? I burst into laughter at the absurdity of it.

“Fine. You helped out, so sit over there.”

The twins practically collapsed onto the wooden platform. Song Ae-rim groaned from hunger, while Song Ae-hyuk rubbed his lower back and caught his breath.

“Ji-gu, are you going to make rice?”
“Yes. Let me check if there’s any rice first.”

I headed straight for the Kitchen.

The moment I opened the rice cooker lid, warm, humid steam brushed across my face.

“There’s rice, so…”

I scooped steaming rice with one hand and smiled faintly to myself.

‘This is when I get to use the power of being the Shop owner.’

I went to the side dish display and gathered today’s prepared dishes into my arms one by one—seasoned vegetables, bracken fern, bean sprouts, braised pork, and even seaweed powder and sesame oil.

As I emerged with all those side dishes cradled in my arms, the twins’ eyes grew wider and wider.

“Boss! Should we eat bibimbap!?”
“Bi, bibimbap…?!”

I spread out the side dishes across the wooden platform with a flourish as I spoke.

“It’s a special dish to commemorate pickling two hundred heads of kimchi cabbage.”

Song Ae-rim looked as though she might shed tears of emotion.

“Boss, you really are….”
“Don’t get emotional yet. Sit down and take a bowl. Set out the spoons.”

I set down four bowls and began scooping rice. Then I layered on the side dishes one by one.

A chopstick’s worth of bean sprouts,
a chopstick’s worth of spinach,
a chopstick’s worth of bracken,
a generous sprinkle of seaweed powder.

As I piled on the side dishes generously, the sound of the Twins swallowing saliva rang out loudly.

“Now. For the finishing touch.”

As I drizzled sesame oil in a smooth arc, the nutty aroma spread throughout.

“…I’m seriously so hungry I could die.”

Song Ae-rim sat seiza on the wooden platform, chopsticks in hand, waiting. Like an athlete waiting for the starting bell to ring.

“You can add as much gochujang as suits your taste~.”

Before my words even finished, the Twins added the gochujang and immediately began mixing it vigorously with their chopsticks.

‘That wrist snap is pure artistry.’

This wasn’t the technique of someone mixing bibimbap for the first time.

“Here, Grandmother too.”
“You eat as well.”
“I should eat too.”

Then, when the Twins tried to eat the bibimbap without even drinking water, Grandmother Myeong-ja lurched up from her waist and hollered.

“Twins! If you eat too fast, you’ll get indigestion! And if you two get indigestion, I’ll snap your fingers off…!”

The Twins, who had been about to eat quickly, took a sip of water and slightly reduced their chewing pace. I pressed my lips together tightly to stifle my laughter.

“The boss should eat first. You two.”

At the same time, the Twins straightened their posture.

“We humbly begin our meal!”
“Yes, eat well.”

The Twins, as if they had been waiting, scooped a spoonful of bibimbap into their mouths.

“Mmm… yes! This is absolutely rice-stealing delicious!”

Song Ae-rim exclaimed in admiration, tapping her thigh.

“…Was this food always this delicious…? Why does it go down so easily…?”

Song Ae-hyuk also spoke while moving his spoon in succession.

“Because you’ve been moving your body.”

I too scooped a spoonful into my mouth.

The crisp snap of bean sprouts, the tender softness of spinach, the yielding texture of bracken fern, and between them all the savory rice enveloped in gochujang—each chew sent my palate into rapture.

“This… is delicious. So this is what they mean by people who cook well.”
“Is that all?”
“What do you mean~?”

The Twins were already scraping the bottom of their bowls clean. Gochujang stains marked the corners of their mouths, their eyes gleaming with the hunger of ravenous beasts.

“Boss!”
“…Just one more bowl.”

I found myself momentarily speechless.

“It feels like my appetite has suddenly awakened again….”

Beside me, Song Ae-hyuk quietly added his own comment.

“…In all my years living, I’ve never had bibimbap taste this good. If you could just give us one more bowl… then… I’ll study really hard.”
“You’re suddenly making such a proposal?”
“…It seemed like I needed to set a condition for you to give it to us.”

I let out an absurd laugh.

“You can eat more.”

The moment permission was granted, the Twins opened the rice container again and stirred with their spatula. The two quickly grabbed new bowls and began pouring gochujang and side dishes into them once more.

‘Really now….’

Anyone would think they’d been starved.

“Ji-gu, were you really planning to do everything alone today?”

Grandmother Myeong-ja asked, setting down her spoon.

“If you hadn’t come, Grandmother, I would have done it alone.”
“Why were you planning to do it alone?”

Memories I didn’t want to recall came creeping back. I leaned back as I answered.

“When I worked at the First Restaurant, I was always alone.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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